


Stories We Tell

by frangipani



Category: Star Wars Legends - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Force Woo, Matriarchal society, Slavery, Worldbuilding, background luke/mara, background trope ex machina, but neither is it total shipfic, cultural misundertandings, fandom of one, i don't know what it is, i love dathomir, language problems, luke skywalker's implacable goodness, outsider pov, this is not really gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-28
Updated: 2017-06-28
Packaged: 2018-11-17 05:55:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11269305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frangipani/pseuds/frangipani
Summary: Sein and his clan of free men had never expected to meet the Jai from the stories.





	Stories We Tell

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is based on Dathomir as described in _The Courtship of Princess Leia_ by Dave Wolverton. Key point being mountain Force witches and their male slaves, but I have no idea how comprehensible this will be if you're not familiar.

They came at night as the stories said they do. Two of them. Sein, fifteen seasons then, remembered them ghoulish under the light of the two full moons, the bruises in their faces black as pitch. One of them had a Force pike in her hands.

Nightsisters.

Sein had never seen one before and he was frozen to the spot. He’d felt their curdle of evil too late.

Horrible laughter echoed around him in the forest clearing as the Nightsisters regarded them.

“I told you there were men in the forest, sister,” one of them said. “I bet you my bracelet that I can catch one first.”

The one with the Force pike retorted, “Don’t whine at me when you lose.”

“On my mark,” Tyreth, a decade older whispered beside him, “You run.” 

I can’t, Sein wanted to whisper back, but even that seemed beyond him. 

Tyreth spoke calmly. “You have to warn the others. They have to leave this place. It’s no longer safe. We were the night watch, Sein. The others are still free.”

Leaves rustled.

“Run!”

Sein did and laughter spread around him. He could feel them somewhere behind him. Not with much clarity, for he was a man and men lacked the gift. Wind picked up around him and he wove through the trees at an even greater speed, knowing now he was being followed. He couldn’t go back then. They’d find the others and an even worse fate than the one they’d left would follow.

Something big and heavy slammed against his head. Shooting stars and silence followed. When he came back to himself, the ground was cold and wet under his cheek. He lifted his head to find the Nightsister was only a few paces away staring down at him, her face broken into a gruesome smile.

“You’re a talented one.” The one without the weapon. He couldn’t guess how old she was, all he could see was that her hair was long and dark, sectioned off into various braids. She lifted her voice. “I got one!”

From the distance the other’s voice rang out. “I have one too!”

“Not as talented as mine!”

“That was not part of the bet!”

The Nightsister grunted. She bent down by him. “Get up.”

His head hurt, but he sat up, the violent beat of his heart demanding he run.

“If you run,” the Nightsister told him matter of factly. “I will catch you again and then I will flay you.”

He could barely breathe. His brothers...

“Walk.”

Sein got himself to his feet unsteadily. The other Nightsister -- the one with the Force pike-- was not too far away. Tyreth was beside her, alive thankfully. She tsk’ed once she saw Sein.

“He is young.” She extended a hand to his head and he yelped. Her hand came back dark and she wiped it on her robe. “And you damaged him.”

“I did not.”

The Nightsister shook her head, her long braid swishing, the color only a bit lighter than the other’s, she tipped the pike in the other's direction. “Only speaks of poor skill.”

“What jealous tongue you have, sister.”

“You'll get nothing from me.”

The argument went back and forth while Sein’s whole body trembled in the chilly mountain air. A slave to a Nightsister. That was he and Tyreth’s fate now. After so much...

“You’re such a poor hunter you don’t even realize that where there is one there is more.” The older Nightsister’s voice drew him back with shock.

“What do you mean?”

“They are different ages. Boy.” She pointed at Sein with her pike. “Man” She pointed at Tyreth.

The Nightsister beside him made a disapproving sound. “He just needs a couple of seasons. I’ll take him as mine anyway.”

“You misunderstand me. Runaway slaves travel in groups especially young ones. So the difference indicates there may be more.” She prodded Tyreth with the blunt end of her Force spike. “Talk, slave. Where are the rest of you?”

Tyreth tilted his head. “There are none but us.” 

She lifted her pike and struck him across the face. Tyreth collapsed, Sein rushing to him. 

The Nightsister made a gesture and invisible hands shoved Sein back. “You stay.”

She couldn’t stop him from speaking. “Tyreth!”

“Perhaps you tried the wrong one sister.” The first Nightsister laughed.

The second threw her an infuriated look but her attention returned to Sein and Tyreth. “Tell us where the rest are.”

From his spot in the ground, Tyreth shook his head. 

“Oh," the second sounded mildly taken aback. "They want to make this interesting.” But instead of striking Tyreth again she turned to Sein and chanted a spell with a sweep of her arm. She snapped her fingers and pain burst along the side of Sein's mouth. The taste of blood made him want to spit, but doing so hurt more. She’d crushed his tooth.

He was going to die.

The Nightsister flashed another of her horrific smiles. 

“Oh, you won’t die, slave boy. Our clan is in need of men. We have use for you and your friends. Tell us where they are and it will go much more pleasant for all of you.”

Panic beat mercilessly within him. 

“No?” The Nightsister gave him a scornful look. He felt as if his head was being pressed in, as if it were a nut to be cracked--

“Up in this mountain, west ward path following the river about a mile in. By the boulders.” His mouth moved without his will, a scream caught in his throat.

The Nightsisters laughed. “That was too easy,” the first said.

“What can you expect from a lowly man? But easy or not, they refused us sister. That merits a lesson.” 

“No!” Tyreth called to Nightsister who’d spoken. “He’s a boy. We stole him before he could be purchased and he’s never learned his place. He knows nothing.”

The Nightsisters looked at him with interest. 

“Punish me for him if you wish.”

They looked at each other and burst out laughing. “They think we cannot smell the lie,” the older one mused. “Since you find his punishment so hard to tolerate, perhaps you’d like to administer it yourself.”

“No!” Tyreth screamed.

Sein stepped away, his stomach a great knot. A mind spell. Normal witches might threaten an unruly slave in this manner, but even men knew the _Book of Law_ clearly prohibited such a thing. 

Sein took another step back to the titters of the Nightsisters, a chill going down this spine as Tyreth’s face went blank. Tyreth strode foward, his fist over his head. Sein's eyes flickered over the Nightsisters, bloodlust clear on their faces.

He wouldn’t give them the pleasure of running away, Sein decided. They’d catch him anyway.

The first strike made him lose his balance. Sein drew back, stumbled but he didn’t fall. His jaw throbbed lightning. The second blow dazed him, the side of his face burning, more from the crushed tooth than the hit. The third blow dropped him. 

The Nightsisters let out pleased cries as instinct took over and he curled up, arms around his head. He felt the force of Tyreth’s kick as it slammed into his lower back. If he weren’t such a coward, Sein thought as bruises were pounded along his spine, he’d uncover his head. All of this would end quicker. 

But what, then, when he awoke? It just hurt so much. Not just at his back from the kicking, from Tyreth too where the Nightsister had him, imprisoned in his own mind. 

“I’m getting bored,” the second Nightsister spoke. Sein felt the mind spell lessen.

Tyreth paused, giving Sein a chance to breathe above the pain.

“Here.” Sein did not dare uncurl himself but he heard the sound of the staff landing on the ground. 

He bit his lip hard enough to split it and tried not to let out his fearful moan. He could almost feel Tyreth’s hand lift it up to bring it down over his head --

A violent snap made him flinch, the tip of it landing on the ground beside Sein. He _felt_ Tyreth come back to himself, the hold the Nightsister had suddenly gone. Tyreth’s cry rang through the air, choked and anguished as he fell. His clan brother's relief and mounting horror at what he'd been made to do like a hot poker in Sein's awareness. 

And Sein somehow still waited for that phantom blow.

“Stop.”

A male voice. Hushed, but no less authoritative. 

It was his presence in Sein's perceptions, like the four moons high up in the sky, dissolving all shadows. More power than Sein had ever felt.

Just that almost made Sein look up, but he still feared the fall of the staff too much.

“A male spellcaster?” the younger Nightsister’s voice sounded as shocked at he felt. “Is that what the clans are doing now? Disgusting. I wish I knew which witch taught you so I--”

He felt Tyreth crawl to him, but still recoiled as he touched his shoulder. He forced himself to raise his head.

“Let us go, Sein,” Tyreth whispered shakily, eyes haunted. “We need to warn the others.” He was right, but there was still an instinctive impulse to pull away. Tyreth had -- Sein stopped the thought. It had never been Tyreth. Would never be him. Never.

“We do not answer to men, slave." The older Nightsister called out to the newcomer. No matter what children’s tricks you might have been taught.” But her voice carried a note Sein did not expect. Wariness.

Sein forced himself to crouch. The side of Tyreth’s face was blackened by blood in the moonlight from the Nightsister's blow, but his hazel eyes his own. Off the corner of his eye, Sein could see the Nightsisters, their attention on the stranger.

Stand up, he told himself. Go warn the others.

“I am not a slave.” The male speaker again and his voice was stronger, dangerously so. A man could be beat terribly for less. “Leave this place and no harm will come to you.”

He dared to threaten a witch?

“On my mark,” Tyreth whispered over Sein's stupefaction. 

Sein swallowed.

The Nightsisters laughed. 

“There’s only one way to deal with a slave who has learned magic,” the younger one said. “One who befouls the ancient teachings.”

“You befoul them yourself, using them in service of suffering," he shot back. "All of that is against the teachings of your _Book of Law_.” 

Who was this man? But Sein had no sooner wondered than one of the Nightsisters called, "Enough!" and wind began to pick up around them.

“Now!” Tyreth hissed. An instant and they both scrambled off deeper into the trees. Sein ran with him, for a second believing both Nightsisters would be occupied with the stranger, whatever he was, until Sein heard movement behind him. A quick turn of his head revealed it to be the younger one. 

Stone and debris lifted, beginning to buffet at them, but they trudged on. With the Nightsister on their tail, there was no returning to camp. 

Tyreth gestured they should split up, an old trick -- the one followed would be the bait, while the other could go warn. Sein took to the opposite direction, running towards the cliff that overlooked the Western River. He heard the Nightsister’s footsteps behind him and only felt a powerful surge of emotion -- gratitude. He wouldn't be the cause of their misfortune. They could go on.

Sein reached the top of the mountain before the Nightsister and turned. If this was to be it--

“I curse you! In the name of my brothers and my fathers and my father’s fathers, I curse you. May your rivers run dry, may your land bear no fruit, let your line wither and rot. All of you witches, but especially you, vile Nightsister! ” His eyes stung, vision blurring.

Rock flew at him and he sidestepped to miss them. He should toss himself over the edge of the cliff. What was he waiting for? The Nightsister would soon overpower him. His fate would be worse. Yet it burned with him, that he hadn’t risked it all, hadn’t left everything he’d known behind only to to end like this. 

_She_ wasn’t worth it.

The onslaught of rocks was beginning to become dangerous until it stopped and the Nightsister froze.

“Bashira,” she murmured and crumpled to the ground. 

Tyreth came into view behind her, running towards him. “Sein.”

Sein simply looked at the blade protruding from the witch’s back. How had Tyreth managed to surprise her?

“Come, we must go!” his clan brother pulled at his arm.

“What about the stranger?” His words sounded strange. The whole side of his face hurt, the throbbing radiating out from the bottom of his mouth where the crushed tooth was.

“Forget him." Tyreth kept pulling. 

“What if he’s hurt--” he objected over the pain.

“We don’t have time, Sein! We don't even know if the other one--”

Sein concentrated. He may not have the gift, but he felt things sometimes, and the way the Nightsister had said Bashira as if it were a name, as if she’d received a painful shock.

“She’s dead,” he gasped.

“We don’t know that,” Tyreth’s voice became more urgent. “We _must_ \--”

“Are you all right?”

Both of them whirled. The voice had been the stranger's and when he stepped from the trees into the moonlit clearing in front of the cliff, they could make him out. 

There was not much distinctive about him that Sein could see. He wore an ordinary tunic and was older than both of them, only just a bit younger than Ulyar. His face was stained, but with simple dirt it seemed.

The only other thing that drew his eye was that attached to his tunic he wore a toolkit in place of a belt, an object dangling from it. The man approached cautiously.

“We are,” Tyreth said, nodding. “Thanks to you.”

Sein elbowed him. “We should offer hospitality,” he whispered ignoring the ache in his mouth.

“We should go about our business,” Tyreth hissed back.

“I don’t mean to bother you,” the man continued with a small smile that caught Sein off guard. He spoke as if he’d wandered over while they were having an argument, not as if he’d just saved them from a terrible fate. “If you could direct me to the nearest stream, I’ll be on my way.”

It felt wrong, disrespectful to simply do as he asked.

“I am Sein,” he found himself saying, still ignoring the pain. There was nothing to be done until he went to the others and got a poultice. He gestured beside him. “This is my clan brother Tyreth. Who are you?”

The man paused. “Luke Skywalker.”

Tyreth took a step back in shock. 

Sein looked at his clan brother strangely. The man’s name was odd. Was it Hapan? He'd never met one before, but more offworlders had come since the Witches' Peace.

Tyreth's eyes were still wide. “The Luke Skywalker? The _Jai_ who came from the stars to rid us of Gethzerion?”

Oh. “Aren't those stories?" Uncle Ylor loved telling the one about the Jai that came from the stars.

The spellcaster frowned. “You are -- what is it that they call them -- free men?”

Sein nodded. All slaves who had run away from their original clans were considered free men, most summarily hunted back within weeks by a neighboring clan or other.

But Sein’s group was still free and mostly whole. He raised his chin. “On our way to the coast.”

“Sein!” Tyreth shushed him. 

Sein extended an arm behind them in emphasis. “He killed a Nightsister--”

“We don’t know--”

“As I said,” Luke intervened gently. “Just point me to the fastest way to the river and I’ll go.”

“It’s the way back you came,” Tyreth said. “Past where the Nightsisters were.” 

“I can take you that far,” Sein offered.

Tyreth shook his head. “No!”

“You go.” Sein gestured knowing Tyreth would read it as warning the others to move. “I will catch up.”

“Sein.”

“I will lead him downriver and then catch up.”

Tyreth’s expression shifted to concern. “No. We both go.”

He meant to argue -- Tyreth was only like this because of the Nightsister, but this was hardly his first beating. Tyreth knew. This one wasn’t his fault any more than the others were.

“We will guide you, Luke Skywalker,” his clan brother said.

The stranger lowered his head. “Thank you. Just Luke is fine. Wait.” He looked at Sein. “You’re in a lot of pain.” 

Sein flinched a bit. More about the unfamiliarity of this being a man who knew things only a witch would. Sein gestured to the gash at the side of his head. “It is nothing.”

Luke shook his head. “I mean yes, but that doesn’t hurt as much as this.” He touched his own cheek indicating Sein's tooth. 

Tyreth's expression was uneasy. “We will arrange something for him later."

“That should be simple enough,” Luke said and approached. He raised his forefinger. “May I?”

Sein stared at him in confusion, but nodded.

“Sein--” Tyreth warned. 

Luke pressed the finger gently at the side of Sein’s jaw. A not unpleasant heat bloomed from there for the briefest instant before it receded.

The pain in his mouth was gone. Sein lifted his hand to his temple and found nothing there either.

Sein stared at Luke in astonishment. No words, no melody, just a single gesture. 

Luke smiled kindly. “I hope that’s better.”

Tyreth’s expression was as awed as his was, but he collected himself.

“So you are the Jai,” he muttered, then turned and began walking briskly ahead. Sein fell into step beside Luke. 

“Are you from the stars then?”

Luke turned to him and nodded. 

“I thought they were just stories,” Sein mused.

“The witches know they’re true.”

“Do they?” 

Luke met his eyes. “In Singing Mountain they do.”

“Oh.” Sein pondered it. “The clans around this mountain pass are a bit... strange. Gethzerion came from them. Singing Mountain has been atoning ever since. If it weren’t for the Witch’s Peace, Frenzied River would have called war on them and tried to take their men.” 

Luke threw him a strange look, brow furrowing. “Frenzied River's just a four day ride from Singing Mountain and they are friendly. They wouldn't do that sort of thing.”

Sein turned his head to the side. Strange that Luke was more familiar with this region than they were. He supposed Luke had come from Singing Mountain -- it was the closest to this part of the mountains. "That's what Deep Ravine witches say anyway." 

"Deep Ravine?" 

"Where I was born. Me and Tyreth. Many weeks east. They keep the old ways.”

The old ways?”

“They don’t hunt men in Singing Mountain anymore, right?" Sein kept his eyes on Tyreth weaving a path down in front of them. That, he was sure of given the way rumors had spread. "They buy and sell them, but they don’t hunt them.”

Luke’s expression darkened. “No. They don’t hunt them anymore.”

“I heard they don’t like to sell their men outside the clan either. They price them exorbitantly. No one knows why.”

Sein had hoped Luke would know why, but he switched the subject. “So you’re heading to the coast?”

Sein nodded. “There’s rumors of free men clans there. Witches fear the sea.”

Luke’s eyes flickered towards him. “I didn’t know that.”

“They call it the great abyss, to even speak of it is unlucky. But every slave knows the stories. A land free of witches and rancors, just past the mountains.” Sein grinned. “It’s not so unlucky for us.”

“Has anyone come back?”

“To life as a slave?” The thought made no sense. “A man would be a fool.”

Luke hesitated before asking, “How do you know the stories are true?” 

“Because anything is better than life here,” Tyreth broke in harshly as they reached the clearing where the Nightsisters had ambushed them. “If it were desert for miles and miles, it’d still be better that than this.”

Sadness flitted across Luke’s face. Sein only noticed it for a moment before Tyreth gasped loudly, his clan brother's eyes on the body of the fallen Nightsister. 

She was headless.

They both stared at Luke whose face was of one who’d been forced to put a mad dog down. Sein felt his brows draw together. Over a Nightsister?

Tyreth approached suddenly and kicked at the dirt, pebbles spraying upon the corpse. For a second, Sein thought Luke would stop him, his bearing radiated sound disapproval. He didn’t though, and Tyreth quieted after yelling a curse. Sein went over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I promised your brother I would protect you,” Tyreth muttered.

“And you did," Sein assured him with a squeeze. "You have.”

Tyreth looked down as if he hadn’t heard. “They’re able to turn us against each other so easily. It’s not enough to simply hunt us...” 

He sighed, composing himself. His voice was stronger when he addressed Luke. “You must be powerful indeed. I have never heard of a spell like this.” He paused. “Death spells are against the _Book of Law_. I suppose they are not for Jai?”

Luke grimaced. “No, we don’t have death spells either. I didn’t use what you’d call magic for this. Well,” he amended. “Not entirely.” He gestured at the object that dangled from his waist. “I used my lightsaber.”

Tyreth met Sein’s eyes, and Sein knew what he was thinking. As long as the weapon wouldn’t be used against them, it was simply another offworld weapon, no different from anything else. In the hands of a giftless man it’d mean nothing.

Tyreth turned forward and they resumed their walk, stopping so Luke could pick up his pack before continuing downhill until they could hear rushing water. 

“Stories said you left to the stars after destroying Gethzerion and mediating a match between a daughter of Allya and the son of the Hapan Queen Mother,” Sein ventured.

Luke smiled faintly. “They did that all by themselves. No mediating necessary.”

Sein made a sound from the back of his throat. “You did leave?”

“Yes.”

The thought comforted him for some reason. “Why return?”

A long moment passed and Sein had the impression he was weighing carefully what he would say. “Dathomir has a lot to teach.”

Sein snorted. “Not to men.” He paused. “I suppose it’s different for you as Jai...and at Singing Mountain.”

Luke’s head turned in his direction. “They don’t give me access to their teachings either.”

“A Jai who is able to meet Nightsisters and live much less kill them has no need," Sein reasoned. "Jai magic must be stronger, yes?”

Luke shook his head. “We call it by a different name, but it’s the same.”

They had arrived by the river and he dropped his pack.

“What are you doing so far from a clan, Jai? And without a guide?” Tyreth asked as Luke went to the banks and splashed water at his face, scrubbing at it.

His voice sounded a bit chagrined. “Your lore states that there’s a special tree imbued with magic. I might have underestimated how far it was, given the terrain. My instruments were a little off.”

Sein laughed. “Wait, you believed the stories of a magic tree?”

Luke raised his head, moonlight glinting off his smile. “I was a story.”

“Huh.” Sein tried to meet Tyreth’s eye but he was off looking towards where they’d come, thinking of the others probably.

“Well, there is no tree with the gift in these woods. Just Nightsisters,” Tyreth said grimly.

Luke straightened up, tilting his head as if listening. “Not close,” he murmured. “You’re safe.”

An odd look passed through Tyreth's face, then he nodded. “Thank you.”

“Come to camp with us,” Sein blurted out.

“Sein!” Tyreth scolded.

“He is an offworlder with no knowledge of this parts, about a day's walk, if not more to Singing Mountain--”

“He is a Jai and we --”

“Exactly!”

Tyreth hauled him to the side and away from Luke by the elbow. 

“Don’t you see?" Sein insisted. "He can keep us safe and in return we give him a warm fire to rest." 

"The Nightsisters are not close he said!” was Tyreth's furious whisper. "He owes us nothing."

“And what if they discover they are short two? What will happen if they seek us out between many of them." Sein gesticulated wildly. "We might need his help.”

“We do what we always do. We move. We keep moving -- “

“You know Ulyar and them don’t like to travel after nightfall.”

Tyreth drew himself to his full height. “They will if we tell them we are being hunted.”

“I am sick of running!” Sein exploded. He turned around and walked along the banks away from Tyreth.

“You’re acting like a child,” his clan brother called. “There are no children among the free men.”

Sein bit his lip. He was right. He knew Tyreth was right. He closed his eyes and turned back. 

Tyreth had gone back to where Luke was. Sein wished the spellcaster had at least said something in his favor to Tyreth.

“Singing Mountain,” his Tyreth was pointing southwards, “Is in that direction.” He raised a hand to the sky. “The rancor’s tooth should be beside you at all times.” 

Luke stared up and nodded. “Thank you--”

Then he abruptly teetered on his feet and would have fallen if Tyreth hadn’t caught him.

Sein called his name in surprise.

Luke gave a shake of his head. “I don’t know what that was.”

That was even more discomfiting. “Do you feel all right now?” Sein asked.

He nodded. “Just a little dizzy.”

“Perhaps the water will help.” Tyreth led him to the stream again.

Sein met his clan brother's eye but didn’t say anything. What was wrong with the spellcaster? 

Luke splashed his face and wiped it with the sleeve of his tunic. “It’s better. Maybe I looked up too fast or something like that. I'll get on my way.”

Again Sein met Tyreth's eye. That was worrisome. What if the same happened as an animal attacked -- or if he ran into another Nightsister?

It was a sacred oath, to bestow favor on the one who saved your life. Even witches were forced to make free men out of the slaves who did so. 

“It is unwise, Jai,” Tyreth said reluctantly. “It is probably nothing, but should you suffer any misfortune, Allya’s rage will fall upon us. You saved our lives. We owe you safety as much as we can.”

Luke met Tyreth’s eyes and Sein saw Tyreth flinch, and quickly lower his eyes, a gesture that seemed strange between men. The odd look from before made sense suddenly. Luke had a witch’s gaze. The sight. The spellcaster turned away quickly as if he’d realized it too.

“I don’t want to burden you.”

Tyreth sighed again. “Obligations are a burden, but we shed them at our peril. Come, Jai the free men will happily share their fire with you once they learn of what you have done.”

“And you will keep us safe, should the Nightsisters return?” Sein added, ignoring Tyreth's reproachful glare. 

Luke nodded as he picked up his pack. “They won’t return, but of course.”

Even without the gift, Sein could feel the certainty. He followed them back into the dense mountain forest ahead.

\--

Camp was towards the west side of the mountain. Ulyar, the oldest among them, had been waiting and rushed towards them, the rest of their ten clan brothers behind them.

“I didn’t find you when I went to trade watch. We’ve already begun to pack. Osai sensed something...” His eyes widened as he took in their wounds. “Oh no...how did you...” 

“The Nightsisters are dead.” Tyreth gestured to Luke. “A Jai saved us. They will not come for us tonight.”

Murmurs went through the crowd. “A Jai.”

“ _The_ Jai,” Sein put in. “Luke Skywalker.” The murmuring got louder, Sein expected a proud smile on Luke’s face, but he only looked slightly embarrassed.

Ulyar stepped forward. “Is it true?”

There was a bit of a wince as Luke said, “It is, and I am grateful for your hospitality.”

“He was looking for a tree with the gift,” Sein told them and Ulyar’s frown melted away, chuckles spread through the crowd. 

“That,” their head said with a smile, “Is a very old story. But I never thought I would see a Jai with my own eyes.” He turned to the assembled clan. “Ira and Osai take the next watch. Uji see to Tyreth’s wounds.” Ulyar gestured for Luke to follow him to a place by the fire.

The Nightsisters did not return and Luke sat with them by the fire. By popular demand he launched into a retelling of the downfall of Gethzerion, a version none of them had heard before. In this retelling her destruction was caused in no small part by the actions of a friend of his, who suffered a painful tooth crushing, as well as a broken leg while distracting the Nightsisters so their ship could be shot from the sky. Husband to his sister apparently. 

“Not then anyway,” Luke had said with a smile. “He was courting her, in fact while he was here.”

The men quieted. Sein was just as confused as all of them. Erythro, several years older than Sein, but younger than Tyreth, called out, “A man courting a witch?”

Luke had shaken his head. “Jai. She is Jai. Like me.”

The group quieted again. Perhaps by then Luke had been tired or at least aware of the late hour because he said, “But that is a story for another day.”

They had taken to their bedrolls, and Sein wondered if Luke might travel with them to the coast. He was a free man too, with remarkable powers, there was no reason why he needed to return to Singing Mountain. And if he did travel with them, Sein thought looking up at the stars that made up the rancor’s tooth, might he teach them? 

Thinking these thoughts, dreaming these dreams, he fell asleep.

\--

Daybreak came and Sein roused as everyone else did. There were tasks to complete, camp to clear before they moved out. The men assembled to break the fast first, Sein keeping an eye out for Luke. Tyreth came over to him while he ate. 

“The Jai?”

Sein shook his head. “I haven’t seen him.”

Tyreth frowned. “He cannot be sleeping still, the sun is already out.”

When he put it that way, it was strange, and they darted toward where Luke had set his bedroll. They found him awake and and rubbing his forehead, his face ashen.

“You look unwell,” Tyreth pronounced bluntly.

Luke nodded. “I don’t feel great,” he croaked. “Fever.” He looked down as if puzzled over something. “I should be able to fight it off with the Force...but there’s a blockage...” he muttered.

The Force?

Sein had no time to ask because Tyreth caught his eye. “Get Uji. He’s at the stream.”

Luke appeared to fare worse when Sein returned with Uji beside him, shivering uncontrollably. Uji, roughly Ulyar’s age, crouched by Luke to examine him, forehead crinkling while Tyreth went in search of some blankets. “Did the Nightsisters set a strange spell upon you?”

“He’s Jai,” Sein pointed out because someone needed to, “How would he know what is a strange spell?”

“They didn’t throw any substances at me, if that’s what you mean,” Luke replied.

Uji tapped his chin as he thought about it. “No one here is afflicted and you only arrived yesterday. Before then?”

“A day’s hike, and I was at Singing Mountain.”

Uji cupped his elbow as he leaned back on his heels. “Crowds?”

Luke shook his head. Tyreth arrived then and he took the blankets with a soft “Thanks.”

“Anyone ill?”

Luke shook his head again.

Uji turned to Tyreth. “I do not know. It could be a simple grippe.”

“Are you a healer?” Luke pulled the blankets tighter around himself. 

Uji shook his head. “My mother was.” 

“At Deep Ravine?”

Uji’s eye passed on to Tyreth who shot Sein a scolding glance. “No.” He hesitated but then went on, “We come from different clans from the east side of the mountains. Mine was Twisting Vines. A real healer would be better.”

“You do not give yourself credit,” Tyreth hastened to add. “How many times--”

Uji smiled and waved a hand. “Not self reproach, boy, but this,” he gestured to Luke, “I do not know.” He turned to Luke. “Your being an offworlder certainly makes matters more difficult. Apart from drinking and eating as usual, there is little I can suggest. It might be due to some contact with forest greenery.”

“A reaction you mean?” Luke asked. 

Uji nodded. “Although a fever and the shakes seems like a strange one. I would expect coughing and so on.”

Luke smiled as if amused. “It’s still early.”

Sein, Tyreth, and Uji all frowned. 

Tyreth turned to Sein. “Maybe you should go to the stream with the rest of them.”

Sein shook his head. “I can help out here--”

“Sein--” Tyreth started up with his tiresome scolding voice.

“Tyreth.” Uji stood. “I wish to speak with you.”

With one last reproachful glower, Tyreth got to his feet following Uji a few paces away. Sein watched them go. 

“Were you ill the whole night?” Sein asked, turning to Luke.

“No, I slept fine.” Luke frowned. “A couple of dreams.”

“Nightmares?” Sein pressed his lips together with sympathy. He couldn’t blame him. After facing those monsters...

But Luke shook his head with surprising vehemence. “Not nightmares.” He looked away with an odd expression on his face and seemed to school it back to implacable calm. “Anyway Tyreth seems concerned about you. You should do as he asks.” 

“He’s a mother bird,” Sein scoffed. “Twice as annoying.”

“Ah, are you a...” Luke seemed to look for the right word, “blood relation? Brothers? Not just by clan?”

Sein shook his head. “Not Tyreth. He...” If Tyreth knew he’d never hear the end of it, but he wanted to tell Luke for some reason. “Tyreth and my brother, Sila -- my real brother by blood -- were very close.” 

He fidgeted a little, it still felt frightening to say such a thing out loud even here where it wouldn’t be punished. “Lovers. But Sila was very handsome. And when some witches from the north came to visit, mother sold him to them for a high price and exclusive trading rights for their textiles. It made her a very rich woman.”

Sein looked up at Luke’s gasped out, “She sold her son?”

“This surprises you?”

Luke face twisted. “Yes.”

Sein stared at him quizzically. As painful as it'd had been, it was far from uncommon. “Before he was taken Sila made Tyreth promise he’d watch over me. So now he won’t leave me alone,” Sein ended grumbling. “Either way, Uji said to eat and drink as usual. I’ll bring something back--”

“No,” Luke objected making to stand up, “I’ll go with you,” and like the night before wobbled a bit before sitting down, an almost comical look of surprise on his face.

Sein went for the food alone.

\--

“Uji said If it were any one of us,” Tyreth told him at the stream as they refilled the water skins near midday, “We would stay the night.” 

It didn’t seem a particularly difficult choice to Sein. He had gone down to the stream and joined the others after leaving Luke a bowl of berries. “So he is talking to Ulyar then about spending another night?”

Tyreth flashed him an exasperated look. “We faced Nightsisters. The sooner we leave this cursed place the better.”

“Maybe Luke will be in a better condition once the sun is higher.”

“That’s what Uji was going to suggest to Ulyar.” He frowned. “But the Jai is not one of us. He’s not even going in our direction. We should leave him some of what we carry and make our way.”

“He could. He could be going in our direction. We haven’t asked.”

“He’s an _offworlder_.”

“Who has come to Dathomir, not once, but twice. Imagine if he shared his Jai spells with us. We need not fear the Nightsisters ever again!”

“Your head is filled with stories.” Tyreth shook his head. “We know nothing of his kind.”

“We know he can kill Nightsisters. He saved our lives. If he teaches us we can be _free_ , Tyreth.”

“No offworlder can grant us freedom.” Tyreth retorted. “It’s not his to grant.”

\--

Luke’s condition was no better a few hours later. For the midday meal he’d tried eating what he carried, some stick of something that could hardly be classified as food; outraged Uji insisted against it. Between his status as the resident healer and the pressure of Sein, Tyreth and Ulyar, who’d come check on their visitor, Luke ended up relenting and eating some of their food, if he’d only managed to have appetite for just a little.

“We must leave this place,” Tyreth kept arguing later in the day out of Luke’s hearing. “The Jai’s condition is cause for concern, but we have traveled too far to risk the clan over an offworlder.”

Uji shook his head. “There’s no telling when he might improve.”

Sein interrupted, “We can’t leave him sick.”

Ulyar threw him a reproachful look. “You’re much too young to weigh in on matters like this. Go with Osai and them and see if they need you to go gather wood.”

Sullen, Sein withdrew, but he didn’t go with the others. Instead, he went over to Luke who had laid back down on his pallet, near covered in the blankets, his face still unhealthily pale.

“You...all,” his teeth chattered as he spoke.”...go.”

“They haven’t decided yet,” he grumbled. “Do you feel more Nightsisters?”

Luke shook his head. “Can’t feel...much of anything.”

Sein looked at him oddly. “Your powers? How can anything interfere with your powers?”

There was some movement under the blankets, Sein thought he might be lifting his shoulders. 

“I’ve been blocked...before.”

“Here?”

“No.”

Uji came up to them. “How do you feel?” he asked Luke.

“You...should all go.”

“It’s being discussed,” Uji replied, darting a hand forward to Luke’s forehead. “The fever hasn’t broken. Feels worse, yes?”

Luke paused for a second before nodding weakly. “Headache.” 

Uji stood up. “More water, to begin with,” he muttered worriedly. He wandered over to the edge of the camp.

Sein saw him go, knowing he’d probably seek out Ulyar so they could decide what to do. For his part, Sein turned toward Luke who after taking a drink of his canteen, laid back down. 

Blocked he’d said, but nothing Sein knew could possibly block a witch’s talent. Perhaps it was different for Jai, were they not as strong as the stories said? Sein chewed on his lower lip. He'd killed a Nightsister. Sein himself could feel his presence, the power in it. This _had_ to be a passing ailment.

\--

Several hours passed and the fever gave no indication of breaking. By then it was past midday and Ulyar gathered the clan together. His earlier approach to waiting and seeing had grudgingly turned to an extra day’s stay. Owed, he told them, out of gratitude.

The group took it in stride, many of them suspecting this would be the case; word of the Jai’s abrupt illness had spread. 

Sein would have been happier if Luke didn’t seem more and more listless.

Uji’s face gave no reassurance though. Luke didn’t so much as move when he’d felt along his face several hours later.

“Too high,” he muttered. “I haven't felt a fever this high in a good while.” He looked over at Sein. “It has to break. Go get Tyreth and Ysur. Have them take him to the stream.”

Sein looked at him quizzically. This was done sometimes to children. He’d never heard of it done to an adult. “Are you certain?”

Uji shook his head. “He’s an offworlder. But I know of nothing else to attempt.” He tapped Luke. “Jai,” he called, tapping him more vigorously. 

Luke opened his eyes, they were red-rimmed with the glassiness of illness. 

“Your fever has not broken still. It feels like it is climbing. The river might help.”

Luke stared at him uncomprehendingly for a long moment before he nodded wordlessly. 

“Can you stand and walk?” he asked as Sein went to find the other clan brothers.

Luke was standing when Sein returned, but he appeared as if simply that took effort. He and the two brothers began their trip down. Sein wanted to join them but Uji turned to him just as he'd meant to ask to go. “Let’s go find some Clusfir leaves.”

For tea, Sein knew. "You think that will work?" he murmured.

Uji's expression didn't change. "It is something to try." 

Darting one last glance at Luke’s departing figure, Sein followed. 

\--

They were about half an hour from camp when Sein felt her. The afternoon sun glimmered from between the trees, when Sein lifted his head, his hand still on a leaf he'd been plucking from the Clusfir bush. He saw no indication of anyone near as he stood. But there _was_ a presence. Sein could sense it as much as he'd been able to sense the spellcaster, the Nightsisters, and witches before them. No aura of evil hung in the air this time. 

Not a Nightsister then. 

Witch.

That provided little comfort.

“Moving towards the stream,” Sein murmured to Uji, who'd stopped when Sein did. "One."

“Rancor?” the older man whispered. 

Sein nodded. “I think so.”

“She’ll find a third of the clan. Go warn them,” Uji said. “I’ll stall her.” He caught the reluctance in Sein’s face. “Go.”

“We have no healer but you.”

Uji took out a dart from his pouch. “And I don’t intend to be taken so easily. But you run faster.”

Sein gnashed his teeth. “Uji!”

“The Jai is still ill. Is that the thanks free men give? Turn him in to a witch when he's defenseless so she spawn more of her kind?”

“You can’t face a witch alone.”

“Stupid boy. We laid traps around the eastern way. I’ll lead her there. I will be fine. Now go.”

With that Sein set off, his insides churning. He’d tell the others near the stream to hide and come back. He couldn’t let the witch take Uji. He didn’t care how well Singing Mountain witches treated their slaves, they were still _slaves_.

The group was all clustered at the banks of the river as Sein dashed from the woods, rushing towards them, the pounding of his heart like a galloping keshir.

“Witch! Witch!” he yelled.

Heads darted up. 

“Coming,” he panted to Erythro who had shot towards him, “from the south. Maybe about half a mile. Take the Jai and hide.” He pulled his gaze from the older man to the group behind him.

“The Jai is unconscious,” Erythro informed him with a look of concern as the group quickly scattered under the cover of the treeline.

“What?” Sein trailed after him. “Unconscious? How? When?”

“Just a few moments ago.”

It seemed like the cruelest misfortune to Sein. It couldn’t be that the Jai had defeated Gethzerion only to meet his end like this.

Erythro grasped Sein’s arm. “Tell the others at camp.”

Sein shook his head. “Send someone else. I will go help Uji.”

Erythro’s grip tightened. “Go to camp. You were fortunate to live through Nightsisters. Do not tempt fate.”

Sein yanked himself from his grasp just as the ground shook. Once then again.

Sein turned around, hardly daring to breathe. Dimly, he heard Erythro shouting behind him. He’d turned to stone, only able towards the rustling forest with an icy feeling of dread. 

Not one.

Two.

There’d been two witches.

The ground shook again. Erythro was pulling his arm and screaming, but all Sein heard was the hammering of his heart.

He watched, as if from a distance as long knotted arms parted the tall, thin trees like were grass. A head became visible after, blunt and squarish, an uneven row of sharp teeth on its underbite.

The witch riding on the rancor's neck was wearing a flowing robe of a maroon color that reached to mid-thigh, under she had dark high necked tunic and trousers, gaiters over her boots. She wore no helm or adornments either, her red hair was plaited simply down her back. Part of Sein thought it odd, even through the fear that pinned him, trembling to the spot. She radiated power, but there was a subtle difference in it Sein couldn’t explain and it ceased to matter the longer he stared.

The rancor raised its head and sniffed loudly.

Erythro slid in front of him just as the witch and her mount turned their heads towards Sein. The older man’s tension added to his own as they waited for the witch to speak. 

Her scrutiny passed through them, the witch’s sight. How had he missed that there had been two witches, not only one?

She opened her mouth and Sein expected a paralysis spell.

“I do not hurt.”

The clunkiness of the utterance shook Sein. Erythro as well, judging by the jolt that passed through him. She did feel different, and yet she _seemed_ a witch.

“Or take,” she continued, face crinkling as if she realized the awkwardness of her expression. “I want nothing with you. But there is someone lost I find.”

Sein looked at his clan brother, who very tentatively asked, “You are searching for someone?”

She nodded.

Erythro did not quite settle, but his panic lessened. “We have seen no one.”

The witch shook her head. “This direction senses correct.”

Sein fought off a nervous chuckle at the nonsensical arrangement of the words.

“You would know better than we would, spellcaster,” Erythro said. “Our eyes have seen nothing.”

Perhaps she meant the one he’d sensed earlier, Sein thought and spoke, “You travel with someone else?”

She nodded again.

“I sensed her,” Sein told her. “East of here. We thought she was a hunter.”

The witch shook her head, blowing out a breath. Both Erythro and Sein took a step back, but the witch projected calmness. She was irritated but not at them. “No. That guide. Not travel...counterpart.”

Again, Erythro and Sein shared a puzzled look.

“Counterpart?” Erythro asked timidly.

“Person,” she replied. “Searching for travel person. I travel here.”

Erythro caught on. “She’s an offworlder,” he told Sein incredulously.

Sein blinked. He looked at her again with less fearful eyes. Witches did prefer to ride bare-legged, and there was at least some sort of ornament to mark rank. Just as the pieces fell into place another did too and he took a step back.

She wasn’t hunting them. 

Luke. The Jai.

He felt a prickle. The witch’s sight-- she’d sensed he knew something.

“You...understand,” she said, pointing at him. “Say where.”

Sein shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Erythro looked at him, still confused and Sein only hoped that confusion would last longer. Enough to keep Luke safe.

“Don’t hide.” Her tone was stern. “I do not hurt or take. I search.” 

Sein turned his head to the side, completely confused. 

Just then the ground shook again, yelling cutting through the air, and another rancor emerged, bellowing, with another rider, dark haired with a simple head dress, her hair in various braids, small bones dangling at its sides. Her robe was longer than the first witch’s and dark blue, over a green tunic. Her presence felt like a lit torch too, not as strong as the male spellcasters, but powerful nonetheless, albeit in a different way than the offworlder witch beside her-- more familiar to Sein. This was a true witch.

Her rancor was scratched and appeared to be in a foul mood for it, the witch calling commands loudly attempting to calm it. In one hand it held another source of all that noise.

Uji!

Without thinking, Sein ran forward. 

The rancor bellowed again, making Sein stop in his tracks, but it gently deposited Uji on the ground. 

“Are you alright?” Sein asked crouching down, even as he kept one wary eye on the rancor. The witches were talking hurriedly in a language he didn’t understand. 

Uji nodded. “I thought there was one." He stared at the strange offworlder witch.

Sein looked down. “I am sorry.”

Uji put a hand on his arm. “Not your fault--”

“Free men?” the new witch called. 

Uji stood.

“We have no business with you. We are not hunting you,” she explained, confirming Sein’s suspicions. “We are looking for a Jai, a male spellcaster.”

“We or she?” Sein asked gesturing to the offworlder witch with his open palm. 

The witch shook her head. “We are not hunting,” she repeated. “He is her travel companion.”

Sein looked at her skeptically.

The offworlder witch said something in her language and the other witch answered dismissively. This didn’t seem to satisfy the offworlder and her tone became sharper and followed with what sounded like a long explanation.

The witch looked back at Sein, Uji, and Erythro. “Her husband.”

At that Sein shared an alarmed look with his clan brothers. 

The witch looked at the offworlder with an I-told-you-so expression. The offworlder scowled and said something else projecting impatience. The first witch replied with what seemed like an explanation of her own. This didn’t seem to please the offworlder.

“Her bondmate,” the witch told them.

Both Erythro and Uji laughed. 

“You understand. So say,” the offworlder snapped to Sein, ignoring them.

“Speak,” the witch corrected.

“Speak. Which way he walks--” the offworlder broke off and spoke again to the witch beside her.

“She senses something --” The witch stopped once she saw the offworlder dismount from her rancor and called to her.

Sein and his clan brothers took a step back as she approached. Her hand went down to her side and Sein noticed she had the same object Luke had what had he called it -- a lightsword? But she didn’t grasp it and hold it before her as a weapon, she turned the object so it lay flat along her palms. She stopped before them and raised it, as if offering it. She looked back and said something to the other witch before looking at them again.

“She says you have seen this.” The witch paused. “The young one has. She can sense it. It is a Jai’s weapon. She means no harm.”

Apparently satisfied now, the offworlder looked back at Sein and his clan brothers. “Means no harm,” she echoed and lifted the weapon slightly.

“Mean. Mean no harm,” the witch corrected her. “I mean no harm.”

The offworlder did not look away from them. “I mean no harm.” She said something else then paused and called, “Kirana Ti?”

That was a witch’s name, the speaking witch's name, Sein realized as she continued, “She only wants to find the spellcaster.”

Uji seemed to find his voice. “And you, witch?”

Kirana Ti raised her chin. “I am of Singing Mountain. We’ve kept our own since the Witches’ Peace. You have nothing to fear from me either.”

Erythro stepped forward. He looked at the witch who was still presenting the weapon. “The Jai is sick.”

The offworlder quickly clipped the weapon back on her belt.

“If you have offworld tinctures...?” Erythro lowered his eyes as she approached.

“Where?” she asked.

Erythro turned and pointed to the forest behind them. “He was carried there. To hide. He’s had a high fever since dawn, lost consciousness just before you came. I can take you.” He went on ahead, gesturing for her to follow.

Sein heard the other witch, Kirana Ti dismount and call commands to the rancors. She called after the offworlder who was marching towards the woods. The offworlder answered and Kirana Ti hurried behind her, catching up to her and the rest of the group.

“And this illness,” Kirana Ti asked. “What were the conditions of your meeting?”

Erythro gestured to Sein. “The young one and another clan brother were attacked by Nightsisters--”

“So the rumors are correct,” Kirana Ti's face darkened. “They lurk around these parts.”

The offworlder snapped out a question.

Kirana Ti turned back to them. “Was he hurt?”

Erythro looked at Sein who shook his head. “He was fine. Uji asked him this morning if the Nightsisters had used something.”

“He is an offworlder,” Uji intervened. “There might be something he encountered that set off a violent reaction. Although he didn’t complain of coughing or skin swelling.”

Erythro continued his brisk walk into the underbush, signalling with several whistles that their clan brothers should come out. 

The offworlder didn’t seem to need Erythro’s guidance anymore, which Sein found odd. She continued past where he had stopped, approaching a dense thicket, Ysur appeared from behind it, wary, but he, like the others, had heard Erythro’s all clear.

Luke had been placed in a sitting position behind one of the trees, his head was bent down, his eyes were closed, still too pale. Sein was relieved that he was still breathing. 

“His condition?” Uji murmured to Yren while they all watched the offworlder witch crouch by him. She called his name and he moved his head a bit.

“That.” Ysur wrung his hands. “As if he means to wake, but the fever hasn’t broken.”

The offworlder witch called his name again and lifted a hand to his forehead. Luke shifted and opened his eyes, he mumbled something in the witch’s language. She frowned.

The next statement she said to him had the ring of reproach.

Luke simply flashed her a tired smile.

Kirana Ti approached and asked something in their language to which the offworlder witch replied. Her eyes drifted up to the men surrounding them.

“Thank you,” she said.

Sein couldn’t stand it anymore and turned going towards camp. Tyreth met him halfway. 

“You took long,” he said worriedly

“Witches,” Sein replied, not stopping his climb up.

“Witches?” Tyreth repeated. “And--”

“Two. An offworlder witch has come to collect the Jai.”

Tyreth pulled on Sein’s arm. “What?”

“Go see if you want,” Sein replied. “This should make it so we move out soon, correct? I will get my things and help with camp.”

“And the Jai’s condition?”

Sein moved his head to the side. “He’s responsive. His witch doesn’t seem all that worried. He’s her responsibility now.” He yanked his arm from his clan brother's grasp and kept his hurried pace.

Tyreth caught up. “The fever broken?”

Sein shook his head. 

“Regardless,” Tyreth expression lost none of the concern. “He can’t travel with a fever that high.”

“They have rancors with them. If they wish to take him back to Singing Mountain, they can.”

“Singing Mountain?”

Sein nodded. “The witch with the offworlder one is from there. They claim to have no interest in us.”

Tyreth sighed and Sein felt him relax. It almost made him angry.

“Sein...”

“You were right,” he muttered, continuing his walk into the denser area where they’d set up camp.

“Sein, I know you--”

“Go with them. I know you’re curious.”

“You are disappointed.”

“I told you that you were right.”

“There’s no satisfaction in it.”

“Fine, then," Sein bit off. "You’re right and unhappy about it. Now, can you leave me be?”

“You are my responsibility, Sein,” Tyreth insisted. “I promised Sila--”

“Sila is gone!” Sein whirled around, throwing an arm to the side. “Off to be some western witch’s bedwarmer or lapdog or drudge. He’s not here.” He tried not to look at Tyreth’s hurt expression. “And you already got me out of Deep Ravine and saved my life. Your debt to Sila is paid.”

“I’m sorry, Sein. I knew you hoped...”

“Just go, Tyreth.” Sein continued his way.

\--

Ulyar called a meeting just a few hours later. The sun was close to setting then and Sein’s heart continued sinking. He thought surely they’d have been on their way by now and tried not to listen to the talk going round the camp. Apparently Uji had stayed with the witches, Sein didn’t know why. It wasn’t like Uji could do anything the witches couldn’t.

But Uji did show up and while Sein didn’t care he still heard one of this clan brothers ask about Luke.

“The witches have no more idea what it is than we do. The offworlder has a machine, she claims the fever is not quite as high, but it has yet to break.”

Sein wondered if Luke would die.

Ulyar called to everyone. “It is almost sundown and we don’t travel at night. Given the excitement today, it’s best to stay for the night and leave at daybreak. Let us set up camp again.”

There were grumbles, but Ulyar was right. Even if there were no Nightsisters in this part of the woods, travel by night meant being exposed to other dangers -- night predators for one. Who knew if they would end up encountering Nightsisters wherever they’d end up spending the night. Having a pair of witches with no interest in hunting them meant this part of the mountain woods was safer than anywhere else.

“Yren and Gaal, take the first watch.” 

Uji pulled out the pouch he carried and approached Ulyar. “I forgot to give them the Clusfir leaves.”

“Sein,” Ulyar called and his heart sank. “Go and take it to them.”

“They won’t need them,” Sein said offhandedly as he was fixing one of their baskets. “The witches can take care of it.”

Surprise passed through Ulyar’s face for a second. He looked over at Uji. 

“I still think it is prudent to offer it.” Uji offered Sein the pouch. 

Sein didn’t look up from the basket. “The Singing Mountain witch can find her own.”

“I can go back down,” Uji offered.

“You were there since the witches arrived. Stay here and rest,” Ulyar said. He turned to Sein. “You sound reluctant. Why?”

“The Jai is under the witch’s care, is he not?” Sein asked, still not looking up. “He is no longer our concern.”

Ulyar's brows furrowed. “He came to our aid, if there is a way we can help--”

“I can take it down.” Tyreth stepped beside Sein.

Ulyar’s face showed stern disapproval. “There are no children among the free men.”

Sein put down the basket and reached for the pouch. “Fine.” 

He wished he’d gone out of earshot quicker, because he heard it when Ulyar said, “That the world is not as he wills it is a good lesson to learn.”

“All of us know this,” was Tyreth’s retort.

“Yes, but the young tend to forget.”

Sein felt his jaw tighten. He hated that Tyreth had been right. But he _had_. Stories were for children.

He followed his senses down until he caught sight of a small fire off in the distance through the trees and cautiously walked towards it, wary of so much -- not least the rancors. They had most likely been released to hunt for the night, he told himself. 

The offworlder witch took form in front of the fire. Luke was half lying on his bedroll, apparently asleep, his head pillowed at her lap. One of her hands rested atop his head. Sein couldn’t stifle a look of distaste.

The witch looked up, meeting his eyes and Sein reflexively lowered his gaze, making his face blank. He waited her to address him first, but a long moment passed without either of them saying a word.

She was an offworlder, it came to him. She might not know.

He snuck up a glance at her, noticing her black tunic and trousers were not of lizard hide as a witch’s usually was. The material seemed lighter like cloth. The witch’s gaze had moved from Sein to the crackling fire.

He crouched down a prudent distance in front of her and offered her the pouch. He gestured to the trees. “Clusfir leaves.” He made a drinking gesture, then pointed to Luke. “For tea. Helps with fever.”

The witch turned to him with a smile as she took it. “Thank you. I understand normal speak.”

He looked at her oddly.

“Speaking is hard,” she tried to explain. “Control magic is hard. Hearing is not.” She hesitated. “I understand much.”

Sein thought about it for a moment, the part about magic didn’t make sense. What did that have to do with her speaking their language? “You understand more than you can say?” he asked tentatively. 

She nodded. “I have question.”

“Why not ask Kirana Ti?” he blurted out.

She tilted her head, taken back, but continued. “She finds food.” She gestured to the Jai with her free hand. “Speak of meeting him.”

“The Nightsister attack?” 

She nodded. 

“I told you everything already. I didn’t see him kill the Nightsister. He appeared after my clan brother killed the second one. She’d been distracted by the first’s death. We went back for his pack and to the river--”

“To the river?” she echoed, furrowing her brow. “Why?”

“He was covered in dirt.” Sein leaned his head sideways. “The Nightsister might have tried to summon a storm. He may have fallen.”

Something chirped. The witch turned her head and Sein noticed a pack beside her, larger than the one Luke had carried.

It was close enough that she needed to lean to the side a little, but even that made Luke shift, his hand raising to her waist, mumbling something. It must be because he was sick, and Sein expected the witch to pry his hand off from where he was clutching at her, but she simply covered his with hers, saying something in a soft tone. In a smooth motion, she shifted to whisk something out from the top of her bag with her free hand. 

It was a small object, metallic. She passed it over Luke’s forehead and it chirped again. She looked at it, and made a small approving sound, putting it beside her. Her hand now free, she smoothed Luke’s hair back and raised her head to catch Sein’s eyes.

“Fever more low,” she announced.

“Broken?”

She shook her head, worry tingeing her expression “Soon.”

“Why didn’t you go back to Singing Mountain? They have healers there.”

“Not bad so to go at night”

Sein wanted to scowl. They had _rancors_. The witch wanted to pass the night in comfort while Luke could die. “Are you a healer that you know?”

She shook her head and seemed to think for a minute. “He is of me. I...know. I sense it.”

Sein jerked to his feet, ignoring the witch’s confused expression. He didn’t need to hear the witch’s claims to ownership.

“Kirana Ti said,” she muttered, then switched to her own tongue in an experimental tone. She looked at Sein and tried again. “Bondmate.”

Sein shook his head. “That doesn’t exist. Those are just stories.” He pointed to Luke. “Husband.” He pointed to her. “Witch.”

The witch looked at him oddly. “Stories?” Her face became drawn. 

Sein turned.

“Stop.”

He wanted to keep going, to ignore her and all witches like her, but somehow he still did as he was told, hating himself all the while. He didn’t turn. At least he kept that much, he thought.

“Sein?”

He nodded. Had Erythro or Uji told her?

“Luke said.”

When? Sein turned his head to meet the witch’s eyes, green like ba’le vines by the firelight. The Jai -- Luke -- slept on, his hand on her knee, hers was still at his head. She brought her free hand to her chest. He decided not to ask. 

“Mara.” 

Sein nodded, then turned and walked towards camp. He felt the ground shake and stopped just as one of the rancors came into view, the ground trembling again as it did. He spied the other, its massive silhouette behind it. While he knew they meant no harm, he still felt chained to the spot at the sight.

Kirana Ti called some commands and the rancor behind hers came forward --the one which belonged to the offworlder. It held a very large dead lizard in its long knobby arms. 

“A gift,” she said. “Of thanks.”

Sein wanted to push past her and her foul creatures, or to yell at her to keep it, but of course he didn’t. He acknowledged it with a tilt of his head. 

“Taku will take it to the edge of your camp to not cause alarm. Or would you rather bring others and take it back yourselves?”

He shook his head, eyes on the rancor’s enormous, leathery feet. “To the edge is fine. Thank you.”

Kirana Ti raised her voice to the rancor which huffed. “She will follow at a distance. Good night.” She urged her own rancor away.

Sein continued forward a bit warily, feeling the rancor’s heavy steps behind him. So many stories about those gnarled hands reaching forward to snatch a man, the victorious laughter of the witch at its neck looking down at her prey...

His heart skipped like a romander across an embankment. He didn’t reach his camp a moment too soon and called to his clan brothers.

When they went as a group to the edge of camp they just found the gift. No trace of the rancor.

They ate well that night.

\--

Morning broke across camp hazily, the sky overcast, wind singing through the trees. Sein stayed inside is bedroll for a moment wondering if the events of the past days had truly happened. Had he and Tyreth faced Nightsisters and lived? Had they been rescued by a Jai who belonged to an offworlder witch?

He felt a pang of concern, but pushed it aside. 

Ulyar made his call and they divided themselves into groups for the morning tasks, all with an eye to leave around midday. Apparently the evening’s feast had made some kind of impression on Ulyar who once more sent Sein out to inquire after Luke’s health. Tyreth looked as if he wanted to object again, but wisely held his tongue.

So Sein went out to where the witches set up camp. He felt the weight of disappointment, only slightly less than the day before. Only stories.

Kirana Ti was heating something over the fire when Sein approached. Without her headdress and riding cloak, she looked less fearsome, but only a bit.

She greeted him as she stirred the pot.

After passing on the clan’s gratitude again for the meat of the previous night he asked about Luke.

“The fever did break, so he's much better,” Kirana Ti said, sitting down to watch the food. “Good enough that he insisted on going with Mara to fill the gourds and canteens. Though he still looked unwell.”

“Oh, so they are at the stream.”

She nodded. “They should return shortly. You can wait if you like.”

The clan would be happy enough to receive the news as it was, he ought to turn back. He remained curious though and found himself taking a seat by one of the trees wondering all the while why had Kirana Ti filled the offworlder’s head with tales.

Sein snuck a glance at her. If he asked and she took offense she could beat him. It wouldn’t be the first time; he would have brought it upon himself.

Kirana Ti met his eyes. “You want to ask something?” She checked the pot. “Go on.”

“Why did you tell the offworlder witch stories?” he mumbled.

She appeared taken aback as she sat back down. “Stories? And she is not a witch.”

“She claims the male spellcaster is her bondmate, but those do not exist,” he pointed out, the words half crushed together in his nervousness. “Not between witches and their slaves. Only between witches. Men do not have the gift.”

Kirana Ti paused. “That is not correct. Men do have the gift. It is a rare witch who is strong in magic without her father's gift.”

“I am not speaking of breeders.” He tensed and almost winced at the tone in which his words had come out. Perhaps he’d spoken too sharply.

Kirana Ti however, did not seem to notice. “Men are _barred_ from using it,” she explained and tapped her bicep. “And like a muscle, without exercise it withers. The grip of a hand with no muscle is never as strong as one with. That is why bondmating doesn’t exist among our kind, save among witches.” 

Sein stared at her. In a way, he knew but to hear it from a witch made something tighten in him.

That feeling emboldened him. “Is that what they teach in Singing Mountain?”

Kirana Ti checked the pot again. “No. I learned that years ago while I was away.” It must have been ready because she took it out of the fire and placed it at her feet where she’d placed some bowls. She laddled a bit into the bowl and offered him some.

Sein shook his head, lowered it and murmured his thanks. After a moment he dared more. “Away where?”

She looked back at him curiously and again he thought she would scold him. “The stars.”

Sein's eyes widened. There was talk of witches who left Dathomir but no one Sein knew actually met one.

Kirana Ti sat back with her bowl. “The Jai have a school.”

He gasped. “You are Jai--”

“No.” Kirana Ti interrupted quickly, bringing her free palm over the center of her chest, fingers splayed. “I was born a witch and I will die a witch. But I follow Jai teachings.”

Sein couldn’t help but lean forward. “Why?”

She leaned her head to the side. “I felt the call.” She raised her chin in the river’s direction. “I was apprenticed to him.” 

Kirana Ti laughed at the expression on his face. “It was odd to me as well, at first.” She blew on the food softly. 

"Why not the other offworlder?" 

Kirana Ti shook her head. "She was apprenticed after I was."

"To the Jai?" 

Kirana Ti nodded.

It was all confusing to Sein. “She is not Jai yet?”

“She will be,” Kirana Ti clarified taking a small slurp. “Very soon.” 

Sein felt his face pinch. “And they are bondmates? What you said, without the gift...?”

Kirana Ti frowned. “She might have been apprenticed before.” She waved a hand. “It seems different than the stories would tell it, but they are bondmates.” She ate a bit more of the gruel.

He was terribly curious now. “And you? With a Jai...”

Kirana Ti shook her head. “I had a husband before I left. He gave me a daughter strong in the gift. They are my lifeblood.” A melancholy smile came over her face. “The years away felt like my spirit was dragged through the river banks.” She stopped and ate for a few more moments. Silence lingered until she raised her head to meet Sein’s eyes. “This makes you angry. Speak freely.”

“You keep a slave.” He closed his eyes. Of course she did. Singing Mountain or not. It was all the same.

Kirana Ti waited a few beats. 

“I wanted to grant Neas his freedom after I returned -- he had it in all but name while I was away. Perhaps I had been too long among offworlders...” Sein heard her put the bowl down.

There was a wistfulness to her voice Sein couldn’t make sense of. “I thought this would please him, but he was...hurt. Betrayed. He couldn’t understand what he had done that I would wish to cast him from my home.” She sighed and Sein raised his eyes to see her shoulders sag, gaze becoming distant. “Cast him from the daughter he’d raised for me.”

She wrung her hands a bit, an odd gesture for a witch. “I explained using all the knowledge I had gained.” She shook her head. “Nothing helped him understand. I think he resents me still.” She laughed, more of that melancholy note creeping in on it. “I offered to teach him magic.”

Sein gasped. “That’s against the _Book of Law_. Why are you telling me this?” 

She replied serenely, “Because you need to hear it.” She reached for the bowl again. “He reacted as you did--”

Sein scowled for the first time and got to his feet. “If you believe that it is _right_ \--”

“Our eldest clan mother used to say that nature itself holds Jai dear,” she interrupted, “for they fight to protect life. All life. I learned later that this is because Jai live in the connection of all things. But what of a witch's connection to her brother, her father, husband, lover...?” 

She shook her head. “It is poisoned...and it's lodged right in the heart of us. The Nightsisters are but a symptom. It goes beyond them -- in time, left untreated it could be far worse...” her voice lowered, gaze once more miles away. “The Nightsisters are our shadows...our shadow selves...but it could be far worse for what we’ve done...” 

She seemed to shake herself. “You and your brothers will go to the sea, no?” 

He nodded. 

Just then he heard the voices of the offworlders, including that of Luke. Sein hadn’t heard him sounding that well since the night they’d met. He looked over at Kirana Ti who turned her her head to the side. 

“Sounds better than this morning.”

They walked out from among the trees. Mara plopped herself down in front of the fire after putting down several gourds and water canteens, talking quickly in her language, sounds coming out stilted through blue-tinged lips. She acknowledged Sein with a tight smile as she shivered, but Sein's eyes couldn't unpeel themselves from Luke's hand clasping hers.

Kirana Ti grabbed the gourds and water canteens as Luke sat down behind Mara and pulled her to his lap, rubbing at her arms through the thick sleeves of the robe and while clearly this had a purpose, it still looked bizarre. Couldn’t she sing up a heat spell? Even little girls knew how. Couldn't he?

Luke called out a brief greeting and said something to Kirana Ti who made a noncommittal sound. She gestured casually to the pot. Luke shook his head and turned to Sein.

“Sein.” Luke threw him a smile that managed to be both bright and self conscious. “I didn’t mean to make everyone that concerned.”

“They’ll be happy you are better. I should let them know. ”

Sein was about to turn to leave when he realized Mara was only wearing her riding robe -- no tunic or trousers underneath, but more than that, the vee of its neckline showed a red splotch on her neck just above her collarbone. At first he thought it was an insect bite, but it was too big, about the size of a viga leaf. Skin swelling, perhaps? Another reaction?

Kirana had finished arranging the clothing to dry and sat back down. She had resumed eating when Sein pointed to the splotch on Mara’s neck. “Did you fall on something?”

Kirana Ti followed the line of his gaze and promptly spit out her gruel. He thought with some alarm the witch might be choking, but she was just laughing loudly between coughs. Luke’s eyes widened and he cringed.

“No,” Mara said.

Sein tapped his neck. “Maybe I should bring Uji down so he can take a look.”

Kirana Ti who had managed to control herself, started guffawing again. Mara’s head shot up and she snapped something that sounded like a question, which Kirana Ti seemed in no state to answer.

“That, ah, won’t be necessary,” Luke’s smile became a bit forced. 

Mara was hissing something else in her language. It sounded annoyed, but Luke’s hand rubbed lazily up and down her back and he leaned forward and murmured something back in a soothing tone. Her eyes widened still and her hand slapped up her neck. She glared daggers at Kirana Ti, muttering something.

“Sein,” Kirana Ti gasped out between laughs. “She is fine.”

Kirana Ti turned to the couple and said something else in a chiding tone and Luke blushed.

Sein watched with interest as Kirana Ti continued. She asked something and Luke’s blushed deepened while Mara stared at the fire fixedly. Kirana Ti made a surprised sound and spoke quickly. There, Luke interrupted, and three pairs of eyes turned in Sein’s way. He wondered what all of that was about, but looking to the sky he was reminded of the time. 

“They will be wondering about me.” Sein looked towards the direction of camp. “I should head back, but Uji will be curious about your condition.”

“When are you all leaving?” Luke asked.

“Midday.”

“I’d like to thank Uji and Ulyar and Tyreth myself.”

“I’ll let them know,” Sein replied. He was about to turn but stopped. “And your magic? You spoke of a block.”

Luke nodded. “I think Uji might have been right. It was probably some reaction, something along that clearing. I’m not from here, so I’m not used to it. Sounds like the most plausible explanation.”

Mara said something under her breath.

Kirana Ti snorted. 

“But blocking off your magic...”

Luke winced a little. “Dathomir has the largest group of Force-sensitives in any planet I’ve been to--”

“Force-sensitives?”

“Spellcasters. It stands to reason that life here would have evolved over the years to...interact with that population in different ways. Similar to how sap from some tree varieties can cause blistering. Whatever I came into contact with has some sort of interaction with the Force.”

“Magic,” Kirana Ti explained, smile turning wry. “Dathomiri magic. In this case.”

“Strange magic,” Mara noted.

“I have never heard of such a thing among Dathomiri,” Kirana Ti stared at the couple pointedly. “Isn’t it you, rather,” she wrinkled her nose, “strange offworlders. Strange reactions. Strange cures.”

Mara’s retort made Kirana Ti laugh again while Luke cleared his throat, more red flooding his face. 

Sein broke into a smile of his own. Ah. He knew what this was about. The lore that Luke had been pursuing. Old stories.

“A tree imbued with magic, you mentioned?” Sein pursed his lips. “I suppose it could have been a shrub you fell on.”

“A bush!” Kirana Ti suggested enthusiastically, looking as if she were about to burst out laughing again. “A weed!”

“A vine,” Mara added with a lift of her brows, and Kirana Ti did dissolve into chuckles.

Luke turned his head, but he was smiling. He’d curled an arm around Mara’s waist. “I’m not all that curious to repeat the experience.”

Mara said something else under her breath and he nudged her slightly at the waist, making her twist and let out a noise of protest. Sein narrowed his eyes at them and looked over at Kirana Ti who widened her eyes in response as if she too didn't know what to make of it all.

“We’ll climb up in a bit to say good bye,” Luke told him. “We should probably head back to Singing Mountain ourselves.” 

With a nod of his head, Sein turned and went back to camp.

\--

Tyreth rushed out to meet Sein when he returned. 

“The Jai?”

Sein grinned. “Cured it seems. He claims Uji was right. Some sort of reaction to something here. He will come to say farewell shortly.”

Tyreth opened his mouth as if he’d meant to say something else, but simply patted his arm. “Come we still have things to pack.”

The were nearly done by the time Luke showed up. They rancors weren’t with them, Mara and Kirana Ti walked a few paces behind him. Kirana Ti had put her helm back on and Sein noted the weapon at her belt, the same as Luke and Mara’s. A Jai’s weapon. Mara was wearing a different high necked tunic of a tawny color.

Ulyar and Uji walked forward to greet them, the rest of the clan brothers a few measured paces behind them. Sein himself darted forward, Tyreth behind him.

“I didn’t want you to leave without me thanking you again.” Luke brought a hand to Ulyar’s shoulder.

Sein wrestled with whether he should say anything, but given that they were leaving...

He gestured to Mara who was whispering something to Kirana Ti. 

“She has a bite.” He pointed to his neck. “Here. Could be something else, but Uji should look. It’s still what? A day's journey to Singing Mountain? Half on rancorback?” 

Luke shook his head quickly, alarm blooming on his face. “That won’t be nec--”

But Uji was rushing to Mara, gesturing furiously to his neck, indicating she should lower the tunic. “Even if it’s not the same thing there are poisonous vines--”

She raised her hands and shook her head, dismayed.

“No.” Flustered, she said something that was too garbled to understand. 

Beside her, Kirana Ti started chortling, the bones in her helm, swaying. Mara switched to her own tongue and snapped something at Kirana Ti. For her part, Kirana Ti retorted something back that did not seem to be what Mara wanted to hear. 

She appeared to switch tactics, calling to Luke who had just rushed over behind Uji, trying to assure him Mara was fine.

Uji’s face had mild reproach. “Is it inflamed still?”

“Not inflamed.” Mara sent off a glare in Luke’s direction. “Never inflamed. All right.”

“All right?” Uji took it as permission and leaned forward towards the neck of her tunic. Mara took a protective step back. 

Uji’s eyes widened, as he caught himself invading a witch’s personal space, and he lowered his hands and eyes, taking his own step back in concern, murmuring apologies. Mara stepped forward quickly shaking her head, her words as incoherent as her tone was reassuring, a chorus to Luke’s own hasty, “Oh no, it’s all right. Just a misunderstanding, no apologies necessary--”

To which Ulyar added, approaching hesitantly, “It would grant us peace of mind to make sure it’s nothing serious.”

Mara switched to her own language, tone irate, and all the men except Luke stepped back. He just grimaced and responded with a hand rubbing at the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable, maybe even a little remorseful to Sein, but that didn’t make any sense, unless Luke had mistakenly tripped her or something of that sort.

In all the commotion, Kirana Ti had come over to stand beside Sein a few paces away from the group. She laughed, eyes full of mirth.

“Sometimes one forgets how different offworlders are.” Kirana Ti sighed. “It is good to be home.”

After a back and forth between Mara and Luke that looked like trade negotiations more than not, Mara huffed out a breath.

“Fine,” she said curtly. “See. All right.” She waved Uji over and he slinked cautiously to her. She rolled her eyes as she yanked down her tunic’s high neck.

Sein squinted at the sight. He saw the rest of the men doing the same except Luke -- and that was definitely a guilty face under all the red on his cheeks....just as that was a bruise on Mara’s neck.

A curious place for a bruise. Sein looked at Tyreth, who mirrored the same kind of confusion. He slid his eyes over to Kirana Ti who still looked as if she were thoroughly enjoying the scene.

Suddenly, Tyreth made a sound of disgust. “Looks like a claiming mark.”

Sein frowned. Ulyar and Uji might have thought so too from the way their glances went from Mara to Luke and then back again. Mara quickly pulled the neck of the tunic back up, her own face reddening slightly.

“So those stories are true? ” Sein whispered to Kirana Ti. “About Jai women serving their men?”

The witch snickered. “ Jai have no precept about such things. Among _offworlders_...one can never know...the galaxy is very large." She shook her head. “They get very offended if you ask too. It is a,” she stopped, seeming to search for the word, “...secret.” 

They all observed Uji launch into awkward instruction over proper treatment for a bruise, clearly feigning ignorance. Mara looked two parts chagrined and one part infuriated. By now, all gathered knew that it wouldn't end in violence and regardless, the target of the latter sentiment was the spellcaster beside her, so it wasn't as alarming anymore. Sein and Tyreth still kept their distance.

“ _Mostly_ secret,” Kirana Ti amended. “But I doubt they’d see a claiming mark the way we do. Things can mean differently.”

Kirana Ti’s voice turned solemn as she turned her head towards Sein and Tyreth. “Jai don’t think of service the same way either. One is not born to it. One chooses service.”

Just then Mara called to Sein, beckoning to him. He looked at Kirana Ti who tipped her head indicating he should go.

“We wanted to thank you as well.” Luke patted his arm. “Again.”

Sein shook his head. “I could do nothing else.”

Mara meet his eyes. “Not true. Could save yourself,” she said and shook her head gently. “Not wrong. This,” she gestured around them, “is more.”

Sein didn’t think he understood it all, but some of it made sense in a way that went beyond words. 

“All of the descendants of Allya have some measure of the gift,” Luke explained. “Your language is proof of it. That’s how we can talk to you.”

Sein furrowed his brow at him.

“And you have a very strong gift, Sein,” he said gently. Sein’s breath caught, somehow knowing what he would say. “You could use it in ways you haven’t yet dreamed of.”

Sein’s eyes wandered over to Mara. She tilted her head and extended a calloused hand towards him.

A witch’s hand.

“You want to see?” she whispered.

He licked his lips, his heart pounding wildly. Very tentatively, he reached out, staring into her eyes as she started chanting a seeing spell. The forest and his clan fell away, and he was elsewhere, catching glimpses of massive trees, their trunks thicker and darker than he’d ever seen them, and before him, the most enormous structure he’d ever seen, a gigantic stone stair growing all the more narrow as it stretched up to the heavens, to where a huge orange sphere hung high. 

Mara spoke in his mind. Her voice fluid and different.

 _The fourth moon of Yavin. A teaching center. An academy._

Another image formed of a group of beings at the foot of the structure, sitting. Not all humans. He had no words for them.

_All of us come from far._

He thought back to Kirana Ti’s words. A call...

_We all felt it._

He felt slight pressure in his chest as if her hand were there, but he knew it wasn’t. It was his own.

 _You feel it too_.

Gently, the images fell away and he was back at the clearing. He wiped at his eyes.

The hand around his squeezed once. “Come,” she said simply and let go.

Luke cleared his throat. “It doesn’t have to be now. We have some time in Dathomir yet. And you need not abandon your journey either. We can come find you once you arrive at your destination with your clan.”

Sein couldn't wrap his head around it. The Jai were offering to apprentice him?

“I-I-I,” he stammered.

“You don’t have to decide now.” Luke touched his arm. “It’s a lot to take in, we know.”

Sein blinked his eyes once then again. How was this all happening? Just a day ago all he thought of was leaving the mountains behind. A place without witches. Freedom. That was all he’d hoped for.

He twisted his head, seeking Tyreth.

At some point his clan brother had come up beside him and smiled faintly when Sein found him.

“You heard...?” was all he could say.

Tyreth nodded. “I did.”

Sein made a face. “I don’t -- I never...”

“Since Tyreth is your guardian we could hardly expect you to come without him,” Luke added.

Tyreth’s eyes widened. “Really?”

Luke nodded. 

“To the stars...” Tyreth looked as dazed as Sein felt.

But then Sein’s eyes fell on Ulyar and Uji, on those behind them, Ira, Osai, Ysur, and all the clan brothers who’d risked so much to start anew. It wouldn’t be easy, he intuited. They had nothing but themselves. To live looking out to the stars, the horizon while there was so much to do didn’t feel right. 

“I can’t,” he whispered. “In another life, maybe.”

“You’re still so young.” Luke tilted his head. “You have time to decide still.”

Sein considered it. “I don’t suppose you can come back in a decade or two. Would that be too old?”

Luke chuckled. “No.” 

Sein bowed his head slightly. “Journey well, Jai. And do be careful with our weeds.”

Mara snorted beside him. “Never careful.” She smiled. “Travel well, Sein.”

He acknowledged her with a nod and drew back letting Ulyar and Uji say their own farewells. Kirana Ti came to stand beside him.

“You’ve seen the sea?” he asked her after a moment.

She looked at him, puzzled. “Here?”

He shook his head. “At the fourth moon of Yavin.”

Kirana Ti nodded. “I have.”

“What’s it like?” 

She thought for a moment. “Loud.”

It wasn’t what he expected. “Like a rushing river?”

“More...rhythmic. Like a heartbeat.” She reached to her helm and pulled on one of the small bones that dangled until the string snapped. She offered it to him.

Sein inhaled sharply. “That belongs to your daughter.”

Kirana Ti gave him a sad smile. “My daughter has been apprenticed to another."

"Why?" Sein couldn't help blurting out in shock. It was virtually unheard of for a witch not to train her own daughter, and inconceivable dishonor. Was it because of her apprenticeship under the Jai? Was it because of her time away? A punishment for her decision to follow Jai teachings?

"My husband requested it. But this carries no such obligation.” She held her hand out further. “It means differently.” 

Sein gingerly reached towards it, still not knowing what to think, eyes flickering up to her. “Why give it to me?”

The sadness dropped from her smile until it was only bright and kind. 

“For the story, son of Allya,” she said. “Tell it well.”


End file.
